What Django Taught Me About Motherhood

Quentin Tarantino movies are always a double-edged sword for me. They provide a substantial amount of entertainment, epic story lines with twist and turns that only a seasoned screen writer could see coming. In the same token, they are laced with extreme violence and gore, and although I hate to admit it, The Big T uses that dreaded N-word way more than he should in about 90% of his films. So when the previews for Django Unchained began to appear, I knew we had to give the movie a-go, and brace ourselves for the worst. A slavery movie it most definitely is, so the derogatory names would be rampant (and I was right). What I didn’t expect was to learn a valuable lesson about motherhood during the film.

In a very pivotal point of the movie, our lead character, Django Freeman, is fortunate enough to encounter a man who grows to understand and respect him. A man by the name of Dr. Shultz, who has no problem setting Django free from slavery. Without giving too much away (seriously, I basically gave NOTHING away), this man utters important words to Django:

“I’ve never given anyone their freedom before, and now that I have, I feel vaguely responsible.”

As he spoke these words, I immediately thought of my children. Isn’t this exactly what we as mothers do? We give our children freedom, whether it’s when they are released from our womb, or as they grow into humans worthy of responsibility. As soon as we let go, we feel an urge to make sure that freedom isn’t misused. We keep a distance while still questioning their moves; the hobbies they chose, the people they befriend, and even their scholastic choices. We free them, but we’ll always be responsible for how they portray themselves to the world.

As we enter this new year, every parent worth something will reflect on how well we do at this thing called child-rearing. What liberties can we allow our children? Is the idea of a “helicopter parent” still taboo, or in light of recent unfortunate events, should we be more in tune to what our kids are passionate about no matter their age? Or, like Dr. Schultz, should we acknowledge our feeling of responsibility and let them grow into the humans they are meant to be? If you find the correct answer, please let me know. I’ll be over here recuperating from all the blood and guts I just viewed the last 2 hours.